Missing You
by Saori Runa Dempsey
Summary: Nejiten Sometimes it takes almost losing them before you realize what you've had beside you all along. Neji finds this out the hard way when Tenten is no longer there. Reviews, as always, are much appreciated.
1. Missing You, Part I

**_My first shot at Naruto. I hope I have their personalities like they should be...I'm trying to keep everyone as in character as possible. Read and Review, please!_**

**_Disclaimer: I own nothing; nada, zip, zilch,...you get the idea. Well, except a few OC characters that come and go for story purposes. Them and the plot are mine._**

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**_Missing You_**

_By Saori Runa Dempsey_

**Chapter I**

_The Hyuuga's Faith: This is Not Goodbye!_

"Anything?"

Her voice, when it came over their communication set, was broken up due to the bad reception of the area she'd been sent to scout out. _"Nothing. What am I supposed to be looking for, Neji? Hiashi-san wasn't that clear about it."_

Even at the advantage of Byakugan and having become fairly good at knowing how his uncle thought (and this was only on good days; he didn't even try on the bad ones), Hyuuga Neji didn't have a clue about what to expect. Threats against their clan came in all the time, after all…but none had ever been taken with the seriousness Hyuuga Hiashi had taken this one. The message had come to the estate via a messenger crow, the animal fake thereafter exploding in the face of one of the Hyuuga council member's sons. He still wasn't all that happy about that, more because of having had his eyebrows burned off then having possibly been killed by such a thing.

Neji continued his surveillance of the north side of the estate in silence, not seeing anything that was out of the ordinary. Gai-sensei was checking the east side and Lee the west while Hinata and Hanabi scouted around the south side. Until now, he doubted anyone in the Hyuuga family had realized how _big_ the estate was with the much smaller dwellings dwarfing the huge main estate where Hinata, Hanabi, and Hiashi resided. Since the main families and branch families had finally settled their differences, their small corner of Konohagakure seemed somehow…bigger now.

_"West side all clear, Neji-san!"_ Lee's cheerfully exuberant report made Neji wince mildly. Gai-sensei radioed him a few seconds later, twice as energetically and loud enough to make the earpiece squeal. _Idiots._ The thought held a trace of affection for the 'youth advocators' that Hanabi-sama loved referring to them as, though he himself had only admitted that fact a short time ago. He respected Gai-sensei as his mentor and old team leader and Lee as a strong fighter and teammate. Still, there was only so much he could take without a buffer.

That buffer, of course, was usually Tenten who seemed perfectly capable of dealing with anything thrown at her. She'd rip her hair out afterwards from the youth proclamations of the rest of their team, but the Hyuuga had never seen anyone who could stand in the presence of two overly excited green aliens all day and not turn them into wall decorations with her impressive arsenal of weapons – a scary one no less that had only grown in size over the years. While he'd never snapped at them yet, he could recall quite a few instances when he'd felt far too tempted to leave them hanging on their dojo's walls by their toes.

_"Neji."_ Tenten again, and he was sure she sounded a little annoyed. After all that, she'd had nothing to impale for all her troubles under the hot summer sun. _"There's nothing but tall grass for miles around and not a hint of chakra presence."_ They both knew that didn't necessarily mean anything, but no one had better target vision then Tenten, which was why he'd asked her to go to the plains. Honed from hours and hours of target practice, he had faith that if anyone was hiding among the grass blades, she'd find them. _"You're going to owe me a big dinner for this!"_

The proclamation didn't surprise or faze him. He'd just have one of his staff call in a reservation at her favorite Chinese place in the village once they were all finished. It was certainly no hardship to take her to dinner – they were, in fact, welcome face's to the restaurant's hostess who always looked delighted to see them. He was _THE_ Hyuuga, after all. _Every_body welcomed _him_. He was too used to their usual 'payment' plans for favors to be annoyed anymore.

He did, however, have a reputation to uphold, lest it be known that the spunky weapons mistress could actually railroad him. Hiashi-sama might get some bothersome ideas (more so then normal) if he knew that. "Hnn…"

_"Royal Mandarin!"_ she proclaimed cheerfully, as if he didn't already know. 6 out of the 7 days they trained they often would stop by and order dinner there. If they trained late, Lee would run over and order for them. _"You're buying me that roasted duck special!"_

"Hnn…" He looked up as the breeze blew by him, bringing with it a strange presence. "Tenten, eyes open. The wind i-"

**CRASH!**

There was so much action going on around him as the ground shook from the explosion, a mushroom cloud of smoke rising from the plains, that he wasn't sure whether he actually said, _"SHIT"_ out loud, or if it was actually Tenten who did before their connection crackled and turned to static. Either way, he was the first to take off toward the plains, Byakugan activated as he jumped from tree to tree with only one thought on his mind.

_She's fine. They're all FINE._

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The scene, once the Godaime arrived, was _not_ 'fine'. 

Even _she_ couldn't have made a hole this huge, Tsunade realized, sweat rolling down her head as she observed the plains that had become little more then a huge crater. She doubted anyone had ever seen it coming. Smoke still rose from the very bottom where the forensic-nin's and ANBU were trying to determine if anyone was simply buried under the dirt, but she didn't hold high hopes for that. There was just no way the shinobi's out here could've survived it.

"Where's Hyuuga?" She looked around for the clan's head, but paused as she finally saw him by his nephew. Hyuuga Neji, known to be a stoical boy in his youth and a serious young man now, was staring straight ahead, unblinking. Hyuuga Hiashi, the clan head, was staring worriedly at him, and she was close enough to hear him say, "They're gone, Neji. Let's go…"

The young prodigy – a high level Jounin already at only 18 yrs old – merely shook his head and stared straight ahead where a small path leading into the forests remained untouched. Tsunade didn't understand why he was staring until quite a while later, nor did she know about how long he'd stood there until a thoroughly frustrated Hiashi had dragged him into her clinic a week later, heavy with a fever bordering on pneumonia.

"She'll come back," he said flatly from his prone position when she'd asked, white eyes intense even after she'd pumped him full of enough medications to heal a small plague-ridden village and knock out an adult bull. "Tenten wouldn't…be taken down like that. She might need some…help."

_Shock_, she thought with a shake of her head. _He's gone into a state of shock._ "I'll send someone then," Tsunade told him mildly, knowing she would, if only to be absolutely sure. Things tended to come back and bite her on the butt if she didn't double check. Just look at Jiraiya, for instance…what a nuisance…she should've made sure the latch on that box had been shut all those years ago.

"Arigatou, Godaime," Hiashi said, tired eyes staring at the now knocked out jounin. "Any news on…?"

She just shook her head. The best ANBU ninjas and Jounin had been dispatched to find _any_ signs of survivors, but nothing had come up. It wasn't likely that anything ever would.

The great Hyuuga head drew in a breath, looking both miserable and dispirited. "I will…inform the clan. My thanks, Godaime." He let his eyes turn towards his nephew. "Take care of him for us. This may not…go over very well."

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May not go very well, as it turned out, was an understatement of the largest magnitude. It was whispered through the Hyuuga main and branch families that the force of the door Neji slammed upon receiving the news had been felt all the way to Sunagakure in the form of an earthquake. Needless to say, those who'd been in the compound at the time had given the Branch family heir a _WIDE_ berth for quite some time. 

When the day for the funeral service came, it was fittingly dreary and rainy with winds so harsh poor Hanabi had nearly been blown away were it not for Hiashi's grip on her shoulder. Predictably, Gai and Lee were inconsolable to the amazing point that Lee didn't even react when his long time crush Sakura came over to offer a shoulder to cry on. He'd actually _refused_, and not because the Uchiha had been glaring hard enough to burn through metal despite his own sympathies for the team. They'd lost a comrade in arms and he understood what they were going through. He'd even offered a strained condolence to The Hyuuga despite their complicated friendship (which didn't seem friendly at all, and was more or less based on unspoken 'understandings').

Neji, for his part, didn't hear any of them. He just stared at the portrait of his fallen teammate among the dozen others of his relatives who'd been with her, jaw tight and eyes narrowed. It wasn't…_possible_ that she could be gone. Tenten was…well…Tenten. His mind couldn't accept nor grasp that she was being declared _dead._

_"You're Hyuuga Neji, right?"_

_"…"_

_"I'm Tenten!"_

It wasn't right…it just _couldn't_ be. From their academy days, she'd been the only thing he'd been sure of. He hadn't known her then – honestly hadn't wanted to, either – but he'd realized she could be counted on to always do what he figured she would. It was his birthday? Instead of getting him a gift he'd never use nor like (like everyone else who wanted to kiss _THE_ Hyuuga's feet), she would slap him on the back hard enough to make him nearly smack his head against the desk, grin as if to say 'Happy Birthday', and then go on talking to him from her seat beside him like he _weren't_ glaring hard enough to singe her buns off. By the time they'd graduated to Genin, he'd begun to actually listen when she rambled and felt quite comfortable in her presence. She, who did not kiss his feet and in fact tried to cut them off a few times if he made her mad enough.

_"Mou…not a scratch on you!"_

_"…Are you done fooling around?"_

For a second, Neji heard the sound of her kunai and shuriken as they hit the dirt. It was a strange memory to hear so clearly, but it was a comfort to him as he looked at the picture he knew she'd have hated – it had none of her weapons in it.

"Are you coming, Neji-niisan?"

He spared a glance at Hinata-sama, her Hyuuga white eyes red from crying and her pale skin even paler then usual. With a small nonsensical sound, he walked towards where Hiashi-sama and Hanabi-sama waited, hands shoved into his pockets where he always kept a few kunai and shuriken handy. Tenten, again, had taught him the necessity of it when they'd begun to train by surprise attacks on the other just to make sure their skills didn't get rusty and they were prepared for _anything_. Now he didn't go anywhere or even _sleep_ without some of his weapons well within reach (He'd never forget the scene in his closet after he'd taken a shower some years ago and she'd surprised him there while he was only in a towel, nearly making him lose his _grip_ on it when she tossed the shuriken at him).

Pausing halfway, he was relieved none of them came closer when he looked back at the photo one last time, the soaked black bow at its corner drooping heavily. Slowly, almost unnoticeable, he bowed his head and nodded.

_This is **NOT** goodbye. I will see you again…someday._

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**_Well, there you have it. The first part of this three part story. It's my first shot at Naruto, so be kind. ;;; From what little I've seen of Naruto, I'm particularly fond of Neji and Tenten. They don't get enough screen time, so I REALLY want to keep them as in character as possible. From what I could see, however, it seemed like he and Tenten are really close, so...read and review, PLEASE. I promise this ends happy. _**


	2. Missing You, Part II

_**Ah, here's Part 2. I'm glad the next chapter is the last...it's too depressive. Read and Review -- onegai!**_

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_**Missing You**_

_By Saori Runa Dempsey_

**Chapter II**

_Gone with the Wind: I Miss You_

Neji stood before the stone in the gardens of the Hyuuga main house, eyes unreadable. He was going on another mission and, like he'd gotten into the habit of doing, he'd gone to just meditate a while, comforted for no reason he could pin down and name by the tribute to those from the disaster of only a few months ago. At odd times, he found himself thinking of that day, and on really bad days wondered if there was something he could've done to prevent it. Whenever thoughts like that came, however, an image of Tenten came to his mind, red-faced in annoyance and chucking weapons at him with purposeful stars in her eyes. No, he couldn't have done anything, it reminded him. Tenten, let alone Gai-sensei and Lee, would've helped out anyway whether he liked it or not because that was just how they were. A teammate in trouble? Then they must help their teammate no matter what.

_This is laughable._ Pulling himself to his feet, he dusted off the traditional Hyuuga family robes he wore, shouldering his pack with familiar ease. Accompanying him would be Nara Shikamaru and Inuzuka Kiba, the former no doubt grumbling about how troublesome this was (although, he wasn't complaining as much as he normally would – not if it got him away from _'that sand woman'_ who was in town and Ino) and the other due to make his normally loud appearance any moment now…

"_He-LLO!"_

Fixing him with a glare, where once Kiba would've cringed, the young man only grinned wider from atop the huge Akamaru who gnawed on the bottom of his pants in greeting. Neji glared at him, too, but Akamaru only looked up, barked, and waved his tail before thoroughly soaking the bottom of his right leg.

He was losing his touch.

"Hey, Hyuuga. All set?" Kiba was grinning way too widely for Neji's peace of mind, his look towards the wild-haired boy saying as much. Smiling wide enough to show off his pointed teeth, he nudged Akamaru who reluctantly turned around to show what was making the dog boy so mysteriously happy.

Shikamaru, bound and gagged as he hung on the back off Akamaru's tail, looked anything _but_ happy as he shot Kiba a look that could've rivaled Neji's own glare. A small smirk curled his lip as he imagined Lee's reaction when he told him how much he was going to miss. His energetic teammate would no doubt be disappointed that he'd missed such a…an interesting sight because of his broken leg.

"Ready to go, great ambassador?" Kiba gave him a mocking bow, grinning the entire time.

A tick popped on his head as Akamaru did the same as his master, nearly dropping Shikamaru in the process. Though he and Hinata-sama's teammate got along well now, Kiba couldn't seem to help taking potshots like this at him. They'd been worse when he'd still disliked him (along with Shino, who Neji personally never wanted to have as an enemy again – once was enough), but he and the _'dog prince'_ (named by Hanabi-sama the one and only time she'd met him) had come to an…_understanding_ after one too many not-so-funny quips that had left Tenten scarred for life when he'd told her about the whole thing.

This mission he and the other two ninjas were going on now, on the other hand, would've made her laugh herself silly. The Hidden Village of Dreams, founded only recently, was working out agreements with each of the pre-existing shinobi villages and receiving ambassadors from each to form treaties with them. Why Neji was chosen to represent Leaf Village he didn't know, but he suspected it had to do with the fact that he was from one of Konohagakure's leading clans.

That, and Hiashi-sama had no doubt pulled a few of his countless strings again.

"Hnn…" Glaring once more at Kiba, who only smirked more, Neji let himself indulge his curiosity and glanced pointedly at Shikamaru. "Why is he tied up?"

Kiba flashed his canine teeth once more. "Ino and Temari tied him to a chair while they went at each other's throats again so he wouldn't run away."

"…Ah." Neji glanced at the sky and thanked whoever it was he needed to thank that he'd never had to deal with that sort of problem.

Both boys pretended not to hear Shikamaru mutter darkly behind his gag, _"ublefum umin." _(Troublesome women) as they both jumped off (ran, in Akamaru's case) into the trees.

Neither paid any mind to the numerous sounds their third member made the whole way, either.

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Every night, she dreams, and she dreams of the same thing. Explosions, yelling…how long has she been in this darkness? It seemed like forever even though she felt like something was waiting for her…people…voices?

**They come soon.** This voice, so unfamiliar, calms her again and she moves back, a little farther from the light.** They come soon.**

_Soon?_ She wanted to ask more – Who was coming for her? – but the darkness was just too strong and pulled her back under, far away where light just couldn't reach. _Soon…_

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That night as he and his two team members (Kiba had finally untied Shikamaru, who'd promptly made him do the jig and bang his head on trees for a good 5 minutes in retaliation) made camp just within Dream Village's boundaries, Neji's normally dreamless sleep was disturbed by a vision. Tenten stood before him—he knew from her face and those unmistakable buns that kept up all that long hair of hers – but she wasn't normal.

In this dream, she laid peacefully asleep, arms over the blankets that covered up to her shoulders. He was sitting beside her, outside of the sheer curtains surrounding the large four poster bed that dwarfed her. It was in a room fit for a princess, and the problem with her was that she was…small. There was no way it couldn't be her from the face and the hair, but she looked barely 4 or 5 years old.

He wanted to touch and see if this was real or illusion, but Neji found his body unresponsive, forcing him to just stay outside of the bed's curtain, watching her sleep as he had many times before.

_It was their first mission away and Neji couldn't help not being able to sleep, staring at the gently burning fire that they were all gathered around for warmth. How Lee could sleep upside down and on his head against a tree was beyond him. Gai-sensei was in a similar position, only he was also hanging from one of the branches by his legs, seemingly at ease. Only he and Tenten (who he'd quickly realized from day one were the sane ones of this unusual group) were huddled in their bedrolls, close to the fire so they didn't wake up in the morning with icicles on their toes. He could see his team mate and sparring partner through the flames, completely oblivious as she slept on without care._

_"Can't sleep?" Her brown eyes stared at him through the fire looking almost crimson through the light. Hadn't she been asleep? "I can't either." She shifted her body so she was facing him, too, staring at him with half-lidded eyes. The fire flickered with the wind, making them both huddle deeper._

_As was usual, she carried the conversation almost single-handedly, her voice soft but distinct. She had the type of voice that could lull a baby to sleep or make a grown man quiver in his boots at any given moment. He found these little quirks intriguing about his teammate, listening with heavy lidded eyes as she continued to tell him about…something. He couldn't quite tell what she was talking about – only that his eyes felt tired now, and the fatigue from the day's walk they'd had today was settling in on his body with a vengeance._

Neji shook his head, perplexed to see the little Tenten was awake now, too, though this couldn't be Tenten…not with those eyes. Eyes as dark as the night sky stared at him, spackled by dots of gold as this little mini-Tenten look alike stared at him through the drapes. "Have you come to get Tenten?"

His mouth, like his body, was immobile. He couldn't talk or speak, nor move no matter how he tried.

Disappointment flashed in her eyes, and he saw the gold start to fade, shifting to more of an auburn color that made him think of that red wine Hiashi-sama enjoyed so much. "I see…you haven't, either. Tenten just stay here then…"

As she spoke, he struggled to say or do _anything_, watching as that darkness he'd begun to see began rising up like hands, pulling her down through the bed and seemingly farther away from him. A touch on his shoulder made him turn around, his chest doing an odd tightening as he stared down at the image of Tenten _he_ knew, her smile still soft but her eyes that same dark red as the little girl's. Around her feet, that bothersome darkness held onto her too, consuming her and dragging her back down as Neji began to get frustrated with not being able to _do_ anything.

When his eyes finally snapped open, it took a moment for him to remember where he was and what he was supposed to be doing. _A dream_. His chest ached as he turned to his side, intending to check on his teammate, and only seeing a snoring Akamaru in return. _She's gone._ The reality hit him again, more painful then when he'd first realized this fact, and he couldn't breath for a second as he tried to understand. _Why_ did thinking about her pain him so much? He'd lost relatives in battle before – family that he'd been close to – and had even lost his father to a political war.

Standing silently, he moved away from camp, careful not to wake his two companions. Akamaru raised his head and simpered once, but went back to sleep when Neji gave the dog a _look_. He needed some alone time. Neji walked and walked through the moonlit forest without end, keeping tabs on where the camp would be so he could find his way back easily. Night-blooming flowers danced in the night breeze all around him, singing their silent songs to the moon that could barely be seen through the thick canopy of leaves. He didn't stop until he came to a lake's edge, the moon's silvery reflection bouncing off the clear surface.

Neji settled down beside it with a sigh. Meditation and reflection might help with his thoughts lately. Taking the classic lotus position, he let his eyes drift shut and let his thoughts flow out his ears.

_"Neji."_

His eyes snapped open again, his aim forgotten. _Tenten?_ He looked around, startled by the clarity of her voice, and nearly fell into the water when he saw her. _Saw her_. Head cocked to the side, she stood on the path leading back to the camp, a befuddled expression on her face as she regarded him. "Are you alright, Neji? You look pale." She walked towards him in that brisk, purposeful stride of hers that said she meant business and kneeled in front of him, her _solid_ hand pressing against his forehead. This wasn't a dream.

"Tenten…" His eyes were wide as he stared, disbelief evident. "You're…alright?"

Again, that funny look of hers came his way. It was the look that said she was wondering if he'd hit his head on something. "Of course I'm okay, silly." She sat back on her heels, shaking her head "That should be my line. You've been acting funny, Neji. Is something wrong?"

His throat felt oddly…tight. He tried to say it in words what was wrong – he'd thought she was _DEAD! _– but he found himself unable to force them out, instead letting a trembling hand come up to her face that felt soft and warm and _alive_. It was the strangest thing, feeling as if he wanted to cry after so many years, but the emotions running through him were like a raging tempest. Besides, he'd never been able to keep anything hidden…not from her. Not from Tenten, who often understood him with him needing to say anything at all.

Her brown eyes widened at the touch, but she didn't move away, instead regarding him with concern. "Neji, I-"

_"Hyuuga!"_

The winds around him became a harsh gale without warning, whipping his long hair about, and he reached out for her desperately. _"No!"_ He touched nothing but air, and when he opened his white eyes again he only saw a sleepy but befuddled Kiba and a strange ninja with the pentagram symbol on her head protector beside him, shaking her head. Ignoring them, he whipped around, cursing himself twice the fool as he saw nothing.

Tenten had disappeared with the wind.


	3. Missing You, Part III

**Here's the last part of my first Naruto Nejiten story. I actually liked it...but what matters to me more is how you all did. I have more installments in mind, but do you think I should continue? Review and let me know how I did and what you think. Continue on or beat it back to my originals? **

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_Missing You_

_**By Saori Runa Dempsey**_

**Chapter III**

_Musoukage's Gift: The Eagle Takes Flight_

**They're here.** That voice was back, and there was happiness in it that she'd never noticed. **They come for you, see?**

_For me…?_ She wanted to ask who had come, but she still felt like she was trapped in her own body, hearing but unable to see or move. _Of course…for me…_

_"Neji…"_

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"Welcome." Dream Village's Musoukage was young and beautiful, smiling in warm welcome. After last night and being left shaken by it (not that his comrades were any the wiser – he'd taken the shinobi lesson of not showing his true emotions to heart), her greeting only rankled his nerves worse. 

_"The Spirit Lake is a mirror of the soul," the strange shinobi of the Dream Village had said. She'd introduced herself as Shadiri. "Those who look into it see what they want most in the world." She'd looked at him then, her strange eyes – dark as the night with gold specks like the ones on mini-Tenten in his dream – speculative. "Musoukage-sama was afraid you might fall into this forest's traps, so she has sent me to guide you the rest of the way. We've learned the land itself encourages…illusions for those who are often deep in thought."_

A dream. His disappointment that the very convincing Tenten had been an illusion was great. He'd thought for a few moments…well…

"I hope you made it with little mishap?" Her strange eyes – the same as the shinobi girl Shadiri – observed them questioningly.

"Our journey was uneventful," he informed her blandly, bowing. "On behalf of Konohagakure, I thank you for the hospitality."

The woman – barely older then him at first glance – merely smiled largely and shook his hand firmly. "The pleasure is mine and Yumegakure's. We've heard much of your lands, young ambassador. Hyuuga-san, isn't it?"

He nodded once, politely, despite his foul mood.

"Come," she beckoned, motioning to the building which served as her home and headquarters. Were he not distracted by the memory of how _real _the illusion had been, he'd have seen the hard and serious look that came onto the Musoukage's eyes. "We have much to discuss, Hyuuga-san."

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There was finally light as she walked through this place – Tenten didn't know where she was, but it felt as if she'd been there before. And of course, she had…it was the academy training grounds, she realized with a smile a few moments later. A small glance up into one of the trees confirmed she wasn't alone, either. Neji was there, staring off into the distance as she noticed he did a lot, but she didn't say anything to him like usual. He didn't like talking to people, so why waste her breath? She made a point, however, of waving when she caught his eye. _

_As she'd thought, he just went back to staring and ignored her completely._

_That was nothing new and it honestly didn't bother her – she was here for target practice, after all. That was how it had always gone with them back then, she remembered: Neji being indifferent to her, Tenten respecting his strange need for isolation. It had paid off in the end, however._

_Right after the graduation ceremony, Tenten had gone to the training grounds again while all the families gushed over their children and congratulated them over their achievements. While she didn't mind being the only one who didn't have a mother there to kiss her cheeks or a father to hug her fiercely in congratulations, she didn't want to be around it either. Head protector in hand, she went to sit beneath one of the targets she aimed at, staring at Konoha's leaf symbol. Her only living family – a sister she hardly remembered but still kept in touch with through letters – was a travel-nin. She went where she was needed, lending her assistance to countries or people as needed, before moving on to her next place. Those shinobi had no home village, and in essence called whatever place they were in at the time their 'home'. Last Tenten had heard, she'd met a nice man and was traveling around with him, too._

_In every letter, Shulin would then end by saying as usual, "It would be so nice, wouldn't it, if we could see the continent together, Tenten? From your Aneki, with love."_

_This recent letter, congratulating her on achieving Genin status, was no different, but Tenten strangely found herself contemplating it anyway. She'd always wanted to see the continent one day, and she had no real reason to stay in Konoha. She lived alone and had acquaintances at best, having never really attached herself to anyone that much._

_This was how he – Neji – had found her, and had actually acknowledged her existence. He didn't say anything (she'd have been shocked if he had) and instead just stood there, the feel of his pure white eyes on the top of her bent head. When it finally became enough, Tenten refolded her sister's letter and looked up at him curiously. "Hello."_

_"Hnn." He gave a small nod – his version of a hello. Arms crossed, he leaned on his right leg as he regarded her with an unreadable expression._

_With her nicest smile, Tenten stood up and faced him. While she had always been able to see why all the other girls in their class gushed over him (he WAS cute in his own morose-and-moody-boy type of way and she WAS a keenly observant female), Hyuuga Neji had always piqued her curiosity more then her hypoactive hormones. "Hyuuga-san. Congratulations on being best in our class."_

_Neji gave a small grunt in answer, looking neither this nor that. He just flat didn't seem to care. "We're on the same team," he stated, looking like each word was being forcefully yanked from his throat and out his mouth._

_Not really understanding but nodding anyway, Tenten waited for whatever it was he wanted to say to be said mutely. Simply observing him made it obvious that it wouldn't be wise to say anything until he finished saying whatever he'd come to say._

_Of course, when he did blurt it out, it came out in the way all Hyuuga tended to say things – bluntly and sounding like an order._

_"Train with me."_

_For a minute, Tenten could only blink, unsure she'd even heard him right. He was way beyond her in terms of skill – why would he ask HER to train with him? "Why?"_

_The look he gave her was sour, no doubt resenting her for making him spell out his reasons – he who so obviously guarded his inner thoughts and musings fiercely. With an annoyed sound, he turned his back on her, arms crossing tighter as he audibly forced out two words: "Your eyes."_

_Tenten just stared at him, dot-eyed._

_Neji shook his head at her, annoyance plain on his face. "So will you?"_

_Such an offer had been too good to pass up. Looking at her sister's letter, she mentally decided that staying here a little longer couldn't hurt and rubbed her fingers along the Konohagakure insignia. Just for now._

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"Hey." _

_For someone who'd been at death's doorstep, he didn't look bad, his dark hair billowing against the glaring white of the hospital's bed. She was glad one of them felt OK, at least – she personally felt like throwing up._

_A small wry smile was on his face as she shut the door to his room, going to sit on the chair at his bedside. The mission to retrieve Uchiha Sasuke was a failure, he confided moodily. Hyuuga's hated losing, as she'd learned by now. He looked as if coming so close to death and going into a coma for a short time (a Hyuuga is too damn stubborn to go into one for a long time) after a mission was NORMAL. It was so aggravating Tenten felt like punting him through the window. Such emotional displays, however, would be of no use, so she kept her worry over him silent and just listened as he told her about all that had transpired during his absence._

_"Tenten?" Noticing she was eerily silent (she was normally silent when he talked anyway, but not this type of deafening silence), Neji glanced at her when she blinked out of her stupor. "What?"_

_As was there way, words weren't needed. She raised her hand and gently touched the spot where the arrow had gone right through him, shutting her eyes and shaking her head. 'What if' scenarios were stupid things and she would NOT think about what could've happened to him had it hit him just a little more towards the left – closer to his heart._

_Neji saw her expression and stared at the ceiling, closing his eyes briefly as he let his hand fall limply to his side. "Tenten."_

_"Hmm?" She gave him her full attention, still swimming to rise from her thoughts._

_"Do you remember what I said about your eyes?"_

_She had to think a few moments before she could remember what he was talking about. "You mean that time after the academy graduation?" He nodded slightly. "What about it?"_

_"Did you ever figure it out?"_

_No, she hadn't, and she really didn't know what point he was trying to make. Shaking her head, she watched him in mild concern, wondering if his fever was spiking again. "No. What about it?'_

_The skin of her hand tingled as he let his own rest atop hers, right there over where he'd had a large gaping hole before. "This sort of stuff would never happen to you."_

_It actually took Tenten – who prided herself on being smarter then most – a few moments to understand what he'd meant._

_**"I'd never be the one watching you in a hospital bed."**_

_She felt like laughing and bashing him on the head, but settled for a wide grin as he smiled softly, too, and leaned back saying, "I'm tired."_

_She was too hyped up over his backwards compliment (for such a blunt guy, he sure did give compliments in a very cryptic way) to really mind it. "I'll leave you be. Rest easy, Neji. I'll come visit again tomorrow."_

_"Hnn…" was his only response, more contented then she'd ever heard it as she closed the door behind her._

* * *

Of all the things Neji had expected, for once keeping close to Kiba and the shadow user of his own volition, a bowing Musoukage towards him wasn't what he'd expected. The kunoichi, Shadiri, had also followed into a bow, both their postures screaming for forgiveness. 

A twitch was in his right eye as he asked slowly, "Musoukage-sama?"

"Yumegakure begs yours and Konohagakure's forgiveness," she sighed, looking up at him with an expression that said just how much she disliked being in her current position.

"I would grant forgiveness if I knew what it was for, Musoukage-sama…" God, he hated politics. Bad enough that he had to deal with clan politics – he didn't even want to touch inter-territorial politics any more then was _absolutely_ necessary. They were scarier then that Curry of Life that still gave him occasional nightmares.

"4 months ago, one of the Genin went into the plains outside Yumegakure's southern most border…" Sitting into an upright position, she beckoned the kunoichi to do the same. "The child had been practicing one of our country's most forbidden techniques…one that, if done wrong, has major consequences."

Plains outside of their southern most border? Unless he was remembering the maps wrong, that would be…

The Musoukage looked pissed as she shot and aggravated look towards the ceiling. "It's the plains closest to that of your clan's compound, Hyuuga-san. We were, I'm afraid, responsible for that large explosion."

Neji's blood ran cold and he barely noticed Kiba and Shikamaru squirm a couple of feet _away_ from him on either side.

"Those who were there were put into a place we of Dream Village call the Spirit Plain." She looked towards Shadiri then and the girl nodded, picking up where she was leaving off.

"The Spirit Plain is a place where those who are trapped there are neither living nor dead," she explained with nerves of steel, considering Neji's death glare on her head. "It is a dangerous place, one where only the Musoukage and myself have gone once before and been able to return alive, but it _is_ possible to retrieve wandering souls and bring them back." She heaved a great sigh, shaking her head. "My sister, Kadiri, is fortunate she doesn't have the power needed to both kill and send the soul to the Spirit Plain, else a retrieval could never be done. The flesh and blood body is required for the retrieval technique to work."

"What are you saying?" Torn between rage and desperate hope, he watched them with a steady gaze that had made weaker women flinch.

Fortunately, neither of these women fell into that category.

"We found your comrades when we came and retrieved Kadiri. All of their bodies were untouched save some scratches." Both women shared a look of consternation before the Musoukage continued. "However, Shadiri and her team felt you and the rest coming so they…panicked. Unwilling to put any contact with your country in jeopardy, they brought them here, where we've been trying to nurse them to a state where retrieval is possible."

Shamefaced, said girl finally cringed as Neji shot her a scathing look. If he was understanding what they were both saying right, his family members and Tenten were not _dead_ as they'd all been led to believe. They were, in fact, alive and very close by.

Kiba summed it up best as he moved as far away from the Hyuuga as physically possible while still remaining in the tent, Akamaru shivering in his lap (No light task since he was now twice Kiba's size) and said, "He's going to blow."

On the far other side, Shikamaru just said dryly to no one in particular, "How troublesome…"

**

* * *

"Where is she?" **

_Neji?_ Above the muttered words of some spell, she felt his voice grow louder and louder, wondering vaguely why he sounded so strange. There were too many emotions in his voice that she couldn't identify, her mind too jumbled as she was, well, _yanked_ back towards the light. She hit the surface with a gasp, snapping her eyes open to the strangest of sights…Nara Shikamaru was there, looking surprised, with Inuzuka Kiba staring at her with an unhinged jaw. Neji was closest to her and wore a passive expression, but he couldn't quite pull it off and looked as vulnerable as the Hyuuga heir would ever get.

She waited before the unfamiliar room stopped spinning before she said anything. "What's going on?" She looked around, smiling when Akamaru barked from his master's side and tried to bounce over to her, stopped only by the doorway which wouldn't fit his massive size. Looking at Neji, who sat on the chair closest to her bed, she smiled slightly, questions in her eyes. "Hey. What's going on, Neji?"

Ignoring the people in the room, he merely stared at her eyes, an expression she'd never seen before in his eyes. "Tenten…are you alright? No illusion?"

She blinked, question marks floating in the air around her. "…What…?" She made a weird noise as Neji grabbed her chin, gently turning her head this way and that while checking her eyes and every possible facial pore in her body. "Neji, what in the _world_ are you…_stop that!"_

Being the genius he was, he pulled back with that look still on his face, unfazed as she batted at him but…relieved at the same time before looking at the two strange women with even stranger eyes. "She's really…real?"

"She's the real deal, Hyuuga-san," the younger kunoichi (she had to be with those weapons on her back) said with a wry smile. "The others should be up soon, as well."

"I'll leave them to you," he said, speaking to Kiba and Shikamaru without a glance. Kiba whined at that, but Shikamaru dragged him out of the room muttering about troublesome mutts with Akamaru trotting placidly behind them. After them, he addressed the two remaining women. "Can I speak with her alone?"

The older woman didn't even say a word; she just grabbed the younger kunoichi and bee-lined for the door.

Tenten watched them disappear, dot-eyed. "Uh…Neji…really…can you tell me what's going on?"

He didn't answer her, which annoyed Tenten, until she realized why when he sat back down on the bed, grabbed both of her hands between his and simply rested his forehead against their entwined hands. Her mouth opened and closed, not sure of what to do or say as she stared at him worriedly. "Hey, really…what's…?" She trailed off and her eyes widened, feeling drops of liquid running through her fingers. "Neji…?"

"I…" His voice sounded choked, head bent so she couldn't see the silent tears that ran freely down his face. "I just missed you…"

"I was only gone a little while," she laughed nervously. "Right?"

She felt the last of the tears drip before he dried them away with his sleeve, forgetting the strict Hyuuga rules that no doubt said somewhere that he shouldn't wipe tears on official clan robes. "We thought…" he shook his head, finally looking up at her with his white eyes and smiling wryly. "You've been gone for 4 months."

Konoha itself heard the shriek which came, announcing to the heavens that Weapon's Mistress Tenten had been found. The village didn't fin out until a week later when Hyuuga Neji and his team returned with a dozen perplexed Hyuuga's and a frozen Tenten, slung over the Hyuuga's back like a sack of rice.

It was a day Konohagakure would never forget.


End file.
